Women Sewing

c. 1912

Edouard Vuillard

Associated Names
Edouard Vuillard

Artist, French, 1868 - 1940

This painting shows two women seated on yellow-gold chairs in a room. The woman on the left appears young, with short brown hair and light skin. She is wearing a dark blue shirt and a red skirt, and she sits facing the right with a bundle of white fabric in her lap. The woman on the right is an older, with light skin, gray hair pulled back into a bun, glasses, a dark top, and a long skirt with a checkered pattern. She faces the left and looks closely at her hands, which are close together, perhaps holding something indistinct. The two women are both surrounded by bundles of fabric. The room includes white and yellow striped wallpaper, draped fabrics, and upholstered furniture. On the left is a vertical red structure, perhaps an open door or the edge of a canopy bed. The floor beneath the women is white with visible wood grain, and the ceiling is light gray.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    glue on paper on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 179.9 x 95.9 cm (70 13/16 x 37 3/4 in.)
    framed: 194.3 x 109.5 x 5.7 cm (76 1/2 x 43 1/8 x 2 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1985.64.43


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Auguste Pellerin [1852-1929], Paris.[1] (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); sold June 1964 to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA;[2] gift 1985 to NGA.
[1] This painting was not included in the 1926 sale of part of Pellerin's collection. At his death in 1929 his collection was inherited by his children Jean-Victor Pellerin and Mme Réne Lecomte. This painting was not included in a 1956 sale from the Pellerin collection.
[2] Provenance according to Mellon collection records in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 190, repro

1986

  • Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986, unnumbered checklist

2003

  • Edouard Vuillard, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2003-2004, no. 273, repro., as Before the Door.

Bibliography

2003

  • Salomon, Antoine, and Guy Cogeval. Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels. 3 vols. Milan and Paris, 2003: 2:no. VIII-395, repro., as In Front of the Door.

Inscriptions

lower right: E.Vuillard.

Wikidata ID

Q20191715

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